Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) has received an "overwhelming" response for its first Innovation in Cyber Security Awards.

DESC said that it has had a large number of strong entries from universities in the region and worldwide for the the $190,000 competition.

The competition has been designed to encourage academic study and research excellence in the field of cyber security, by asking research students to develop ideas and solutions for the current and future challenges of cyber security.

The DESC initiative for the competition highlights Dubai Cyber Security Strategy particularly focusing on a cyber smart society, innovation, cyberspace security and local and international security. The competition has received participation proposals from prestigious regional and global universities, which include Zayed University, Heriott Watt University Dubai, University of Wollongong, BITS Pilani, University of Dubai, University of Sharjah, Amity University, American University of Sharjah and Rochester Institute of Technology.

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All entries for the competition will undergo evaluation by an eminent panel of judges, and outstanding proposals will be shortlisted to advance to the next round. The shortlisted entries will be invited to present their research ideas to the judging panel in final stage. The judges will select two winners from the finalists; both of them will receive a maximum grant of AED 350,000 ($95,000) for further research.

Dr Bushra Al Blooshi, DESC Research Innovation Manager said: "The innovation award reiterates DESC support to ‘The Year of Zayed' vision by actively encouraging and involving the academic community to unravel and address the challenges of rapid technological development. At a time when technology is positively impacting lives, cyber risk is ever evolving and increasing rapidly. We need the contribution and knowledge of scientists, scholars and academics to make our society safer and secure. Therefore, in accordance with our cyber security strategy, we are encouraging scholars to conduct innovative research in the field of cyber security and protection of the digital world in both the UAE and the world."

The ‘Innovation In Cyber Security Award' competition has received ground-breaking research proposals and ideas on topics including digital forensics, mobile device security, big data, cloud, Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, as well as solutions of cutting-edge technique, effective tool, inventive device and advanced application.